Customer Reviews

Your Majesty

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Taking steps backwards into psychadelic rock, The Anniversary have taken steps forward since their debut cd, Designing A Nervous Breakdown, and have become an anomally on their label, Vagrant. This isn't a bad thing; it's actually the best thing that has happened in the band's short history: reverting from being in the abysmal "emo rock" catergory and writing clever and witty pop songs in the vein of Spiritualized and even the Beatles.

It's not a bad comparison, as it is: instead of reverting towards contemporary pop themes and stereotypes, the writing duo of Berwanger and Roelofs have chosen to spice it up a bit and orchestrate in a classic way: using the instruments within the band and making the most out of them. Adrianne Pope's presence on the keys gives this album a real bluesy, psychadelic vibe, while Berwanger and Roelofs trade between classic rock licks and arpeggated chords, making this 5-piece band sound larger and more vibrant than you'd expect. Songs like "Husam Husam" show their great orchestration and use of chord structures. Albeit rather tame progressions, the vocals are exceptionally interesting and harmonized perfectly.

However, the band emits the 60s swagger-rock feel with songs like "Sweet Marie" and "Crooked Crown", both of conveying this feeling that instead of listening to a reformed emo-rock band, you're listening to a coked-out John Lennon. Music like this is reinvigorating for not just the listener but for rock as a genre, bringing it back to its roots and reviving old motifs in clever and tricky new ways.

So far, one of the better releases of the year and a great change from their debut. Pick this one up and prepare to have a frolicking good time to this music. It's a great fresh thing to hear amongst the rock of today and a worthy purchase.

This is B-Unique's The Anniversary with their new LP, 'Your Majesty'. Opener 'Sweet Marie' shimmers with gleaming guitars, and the effect is doubled up by the contrast between Adrianne Pope's innocent and childlike vocals and Justin Roelofs' yearning requests. The summery pop feel of the album continues with the next couple of tracks, 'Crooked Crown' and 'Peace, Pain & Regret', although the dark subjects of the titles suggest otherwise. 'Husam Husam' is a fist clenching, rallying call, and 'The Siren Sings' is beautiful as it is melancholic. The sequence of breezy numbers continue to bounce along one after the other, with 'The Ghost Of The River' being a highlight of the record, acoustic guitars supplemented by the layers of vox and keys. The darker side of the band is revealed in 'Devil On My Side', gnarling guitars very much in the forefront. When the epic 'The Death of The King/Follow The Sun' reaches its close, the uplifting effect of the record is felt throughout. An album full of youthful assurance and exuberance, The Anniversary's joyous outlook is quite infectious.

Ricky

this is the kind of record you will have glued to your player for weeks, and your mom and dad will wonder why your listening to "good" music for once. but don't let that comment fool you, it's just sounds like the kind of album they have not made since the 70's. seriously screw all the labels: emo, indie, pop punk... this is simply a great rock and roll record, and if it weren't for being lumped together with "emo," these guys would get alot of attention. "Your Majesty" is textured, beautiful, and plays out like a story with a hopeful ending.

This has to be one of my favorite albums. I bought it the day it came out and I haven't removed it from my CD player. I didn't think this album would be nearly as good as the first, but it is. Although this new collection of songs is not as "heavy" as the first, it is still very intense. I had heard that early reviews had called it "poppy", but I thought The Anniversary stuck to what they have always done: writing powerful songs that tug at the heart. The best tracks on this album are "Sweet Marie", "Crooked Crown", "The Siren Song", and "The Ghost Of The River". These songs are products of musical brilliance. This whole album was flawlessly recorded and produced. Buy this CD now. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because nothing can compare to "Nervous Breakdown". After listening to that album, nothing sounds quite as good. I'm done raving so GO BUY IT NOW!!

I often hesitate to compare groups to other groups or singers, because I fear other people won't hear what I'm hearing in the music, but after buying this disc and reading the reviews here, I have to inform anyone who's new to this group or thinking of purchasing this CD that in no way do I hear anything remotely Beatle-esque here (expect perhaps the "how it feels to be dead" reference from "Devil on My Side"), no lush Beach Boys harmonies (though I do like Adrianne Pope's backing vocals), certainly nothing approaching King Crimson's instrumental virtuosity, creativity or humor, and no one could mistake the overwrought and sophomoric lyrics as coming from the pen of Radiohead's Thom Yorke. I wouldn't turn the radio dial if "Sweet Marie" happened to be playing (I like the simple keyboard sequences peeking through the chorus, and it's certainly the catchiest track on the disc, in my opinion), but everything else just strikes me as very routine and nothing to get excited about. Now, I'm not saying if you like The Anniversary you'll necessarily like the group Koufax, but they are labelmates (on Vagrant Records), and I liked their CD Social Life so much (so much) more. Energetic, creative, and they don't take themselves so seriously! I decided to try The Anniversary when visiting Vagrant's website. Win some, lose some!

Your Majesty is an amazing fusion of 70s rock, 80s synth, 90s rock and 00s emo. The songs are lush in sound and the lyrics, while they could be viewed as rehashings, end up sounding almost archetypal. It's as if they distilled the best of all those eras into one album. Their layering of male and female vocals is particularly worthy of praise. This is a great leap forward from their first release, Designing a Nervous Breakdown which, while competent, was less then inspired or inspiring. If you like indie rock and classic rock as well, you must own this album.

such a beautiful album that burns through your ears!

Simply put, "Your Majesty" is the best album of 2002 so far. EVERYONE who knows good music should own this. Anyone I've ever shown this too has fallen in love with it. "Your Majesty" captures the glory days of the Beatles, throws it in with "Pet Sounds", and then caps it off with a neat blend the Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and "Dark Side of the Moon". Forget emo! Emo doesn't exist anymore. D.A.N.B wasn't even emo. The Anniversary doesn't even allow the word "emo" to be posted on their message board. Anyways, this is easily one of my favorite albums of all time. It's one of the only albums that can take you through every kind of emotion. There are two sides to this album. The pop side and the dark side. Just a run down of the songs:

1.Sweet Marie-Incredible, catchy song. Great to get first listeners hooked.

2.Crooked Crown-Definitely reminiscent of John Lennon.

3. Peace, Pain, and Regret-This is where the Beach Boys come in. My favorite of the poppier songs.

4.Husam Husam-Probably my favorite song on the album. Dark, Pink Floydian chord progressions and lyrics. Incredible!

5. The Siren Sings-More accessible to old Anniversary fans, those who enjoy Nervous Breakdown. Reminds me of the Rentals.

6.Never Die Young-More Beach Boysish tones. Great lyrics.

7.Tu Whitt tu whoo-Also more of a Nervous Breakdown track. I remember this song was on a sampler I got at one of their shows earlier this year.

8.The Ghost of the River-The Dark side of the album begins.One of the best songs recorded in a long time. Even more incredible Live.

9.Devil on my side-extremely dark. Lyrics are great.

10-11.the Death of the King and Follow the Sun-Oh my god! Like a mixture between the end of Abbey Road and Brain Damage/Eclipse. Gives you chills.

The Anniversary isn't emo. They are Gods.

I was very disappointed with Anniversary's follow-up to Designing a Nervous Breakdown. They are an incredibly talented band that is capable of creating much more innovative music, but this album is a step in the wrong direction. Yes, there are some good points on the album, but in my opinion there are no stand out tracks, none of the songs do the band justice. Maybe I am a bit biased for the sheer fact that I believe D.A.N.B. is a musical masterpiece. Even the lyrics on the new album seem a bit drab. The Anniversary are still a relatively young band, and after this album, there is much room for improvement.